The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore will organize five “live” public dialogue sessions with Cardinal William Goh Seng Chye in 2024.
The official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore, Catholic News, will facilitate these sessions. Catholic News will announce the dates of each season later.
This unique series of five “live” conversations offers Catholics of the Archdiocese of Singapore the opportunity to connect with Cardinal Goh on matters close to their hearts.
These dialogues aim to address Catholics’ questions, provide pastoral guidance, and foster a vibrant exchange of ideas within the Catholic community in the city-state.
To ensure the sessions resonate with potential participants, the organizers are conducting a brief online survey so that they can select five themes participants consider most relevant to the Catholic community.
Ten survey topic options are available to participants, drawing inspiration from previous discussions and the synodal journey.
By participating in this survey, participants help shape the focus of these dialogues, making them a reflection of collective concerns and hopes.
The possible topics that are included in the survey are Synodality, Synodal Church and the future of the church.
The second topic is diversity, equity, and inclusion of people with today’s different lived realities (blessing of same-sex couples; modernization of liturgical practices).
The church causes hurt, but there are ways for genuine reconciliation and healing for the wounded.
The fourth topic focuses on the future of the Catholic priesthood, the reality of declining numbers, causes, and solutions, the relevance of the priesthood today, celibacy, and ordination for women as clergy.
The fifth section focuses on clergy and laity, emphasizing clergy-laity co-responsibility, lay participation in the church hierarchy, the role of women in the church, and the formation of the laity.
The sixth topic is being a Christian, one’s responsibility in the church, apart from formation and companionship; living out of one’s faith life; evangelization vs. proselytization; and the role of families.
The seventh is on the relevance of the church in today’s world and the significance of church teachings on various aspects of life and dialogue with the world.
The eighth reflects on being a neighbor in schools, work, family, and social circles; the role of a Catholic today; social work; and interreligious dialogue.
The night theme is the church’s apostolate for the vulnerable and marginalized, collaboration between the church and the government, material and spiritual poverty in the contemporary world, and local and overseas mission needs.
Finally, the tenth topic is the church’s ministry for the next generation (the youth of today), faith versus the world, differing challenges that emerge in the new era of confusion and uncertainty,
Singapore has a population of about 5.7 million people and is home to people of many religions and ethnicities. Most Chinese people are Buddhist, while most Malaysians are Muslim.
About 15% of people are Christians. There are about 360,000 Catholics in 32 churches in the Archdiocese of Singapore, which covers the city-state.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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